Separation of CTCs from WBCs using DEP-assisted inertial manipulation: A numerical study

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Microfluidics
• Cancer Diagnostics

Background:

• Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are vital biomarkers for cancer diagnosis and treatment.
• The low abundance and similar size of CTCs and white blood cells (WBCs) hinder effective isolation.
• Conventional microfluidic methods struggle with accurate CTC separation due to size overlap with WBCs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel microfluidic device for efficient and size-independent isolation of CTCs.
• To overcome the limitations of conventional methods in separating scarce CTCs from blood.
• To enable single-stage separation of CTCs from WBCs for improved cancer detection.

Main Methods:

• Design and fabrication of a hybrid microfluidic channel combining inertial and dielectrophoretic forces.
• Integration of a spiral microchannel with interdigitated electrodes.
• Development and validation of a numerical model to optimize channel design, fluid flow, and electrode configuration.

Main Results:

• The proposed device achieves size-independent, single-stage separation of CTCs from WBCs.
• Optimal CTC separation was achieved at a critical voltage of 7.5 V.
• The microchannel successfully separated CTCs from various WBC subtypes (granulocytes, monocytes, T- and B-lymphocytes).

Conclusions:

• The novel inertial-dielectrophoretic microfluidic channel offers a robust solution for CTC isolation.
• This technology facilitates high-throughput and continuous separation of cancer cells.
• The method holds significant potential for advancing early cancer diagnosis and therapeutic assessment.